• Global Development Lab Co-Directors Isabel Havens and Erin Herkimer, both Class of 2019 graduating seniors, begin the May 31st event.

  • GDL raised $5,000 in the UCLA Spark Campaign last fall.

  • Attendees included fellow students, faculty and International Institute staff, as well as UCLA graduates.

  • Attendees look on from the back of the room (Erin Herkimer and Isabel Havens, right foreground).

  • Project: Bruins sin Fronteras.

  • Helena Bonilla Uribe & Dara Durdic present their Bruins sin Fronteras project.

  • Project: Food for Afterschoolers.

  • Shelbie Pettiford presents her Food for Afterschoolers project.

  • Photo of a nurse at the Atutur Hospital in Kumi, Uganda.Project: KumiKonnect.

  • From left: Ronni Ravid, Malyhea Haghshenas and Olivia Hansen present the KumiKonnect project.

  • Ronni Ravid and Malyhea Haghshenas speak about the KumiKonnect project.

  • Project: Creating a Safe Space for Displaced Women.

  • Creating a Safe Space for Displaced Women project team: Bella Barkett, Haru Nishigaki, Karin Kitsuda, and Hannah Oltman.

  • Project: Allyship.

  • Abbey Willett and Zoe Reinecke present the Allyship project.

  • Program that received grant from the 2018 GDL project competition, "California Cape Town Internship Program" in Cape Town, South Africa.

  • Govind Srivastav (3rd from left, back row) at the Carpenter's Workshop homeless shelter in Cape Town, where he interned in fall 2017.

  • Govind Srivastav (UCLA 2019), reported on how the project grant he received for the Carpenter's Shop internship program was used by UCEAP student volunteers in fall 2018.

  • Noah Lizerbram (UCLA 2017), one of the original founders of the Global Development Lab, announces the project winners.

Two projects win funding at Global Development Lab showcase

The winning projects will provide an Internet connection for Atutur Hospital in Kumi, Uganda, and deliver food and after-school tutoring to unsupervised children in Tijuana, Mexico, respectively.

UCLA International Institute, June 13, 2019 — The UCLA Global Development Lab (GDL) held its annual project showcase in Carnesale Commons on May 31, 2019, at which two teams won funding for their proposed projects. Founded in 2015, GDL is a student association that equips students with the tangible skills and resources needed to start their own initiatives through professionally led workshops, internship connections and development model experimentation.

GDL Co-Directors Isabel Havens and Erin Herkimer — both Class of 2019 graduating seniors — kicked off the evening of presentations by five competing teams of GDL members. As the result of successful fundraising efforts during the UCLA Spark Campaign in fall 2018, the student association was able to award a total of $4,500 in funding to the two winners.

Following the presentations, a team of judges awarded the prizes, which were announced by Noah Lizerbram (UCLA 2017). Lizerbram is one of the original founders of the Global Development Lab and served as a judge in this year’s competition.

The top prize of $2,500 went to the KumiKonect project of Olivia Hansen, Ronni Ravid and Malyhea Haghshenas to provide an Internet connection to Atutur Hospital in Kumi, Uganda. The second prize of $2,000 went to the Food for Afterschoolers project of Shelbie Pettiford, which will provide food and after-school tutoring to unsupervised children in Tijuana, Mexico.

Last year’s winner of the competition, GDL board member Govind Srivastav (UCLA 2019), reported on how the grant he received was used by UCEAP student volunteers in "The Carpenter's Shop Internship Program" in South Africa in fall 2018.

Congratulations to the winners and to all the project presenters for their hard work in developing project proposals in 2019!

Photos of the showcase event by Peggy McInerny/ UCLA.